The main function of antenna is to match impedance of the medium with the cable/waveguide

impedance. Hence antenna is impedance transforming device.

Near field Region: The distance up to 2*Square (D)/Lambda is called near field region. Here D
is the antenna diameter and Lambda is wavelength of free space. This region is further divided
into two parts. The region up to 3*Lambda is called reactive or evanescent region, here wave is
of non-propagating type. The region above 3*Lambda is called radiating region or Fresnel
region.
Far field Region: The distance beyond limit of near field region is called far field region. This
region is also called as Fraunhofer region. In these region power radiated from antenna decays
inverse of square of distance.

Types:
There are two main types: non-directional antenna and directional antenna.
Non-directional antenna radiates energy in all the direction, which is also called as isotropic
antenna. In fact there is nothing like ideal isotropic antenna, each antenna will have some
directivity. Simple half wave dipole falls in this category. It is also called as Hertz antenna. This
antenna has omni-directional radiation pattern in one direction. It has figure eight shape radiation
pattern in the other two dimensions.
Directional antenna transmits/receives energy to/from particular direction. Parabolic antenna,
horn antenna falls in this category. This parabolic reflective antenna is widely used in microwave
and satellite applications. They focus energy in particular direction

Buliding loss -15 to -20db